Ali Aslan is an international television presenter, moderator and journalist. His career has included working for global news networks such as CNN, ABC News, Channel News Asia and Deutsche Welle TV.

Mr. Adrian Gane has been Regional General Manager in Sales, at Etihad Airways since July 2012. Mr. Gane is currently CEO of a major lobbying organisation in the UK, and a senior Government Affairs Director and advisor with Etihad Airways based in Abu Dhabi. Mr. Gane served as Managing Director of Amadeus Gulf from April 14, 2011 to July 2012. He served as Commercial Director and a Member of the Management Board at OnAir Switzerland Sarl since February 2006, with extensive commercial and political experience gained in a variety of roles held internationally (Far East, Middle East, Europe) and in the UK.

Angus Mckenzie has joined the government as a councillor of the city of Cape Town since August 2016.

Sigurður Ingi Jóhannsson is the Minister of Transport and Local Government of Iceland. He has been in this position since 2017. He is also the Minister for Nordic Co-operation and Chairman of the Progressive Party.

As Head of the Regional Development and Tourism Division in the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities, Alain Dupeyras oversees OECD work on tourism, on rural policies and on other regional and territorial issues. Alain works closely with Members and Partners, the private sector and other international organisations to develop policies that address major challenges in all these policy areas. The Tourism Committee [21], the  Regional Development Policy Committee [22], and the Working Party on Rural Policy [23] are key OECD fora to assist governments in the assessment and improvement of these policies.  Through the Working Party on Tourism Statistics [24], Alain also contributes to an improved measurement and analysis of tourism services.

Jointly responsible for the strategic agenda of the road administration on transport and logistics. The current focus is on network use optimization and sustainable freight transport.

Involved in policy-making on weights and dimensions of commercial vehicles and in the assessment of Field Operational Tests with automated and cooperative vehicles on public roads. Loes Aarts is President of the International Forum for Road Transport Technology (IFRTT) and former chair of the OECD-ITF working group Policies to extend the life of road assets.

Alan McKinnon is Professor of Logistics in the Kühne Logistics University, Hamburg. A graduate of the universities of Aberdeen, British Columbia and London, he has been researching and teaching in freight transport / logistics for 40 years and published extensively on many different aspects of the subject.  Much of his research in recent years has been on the decarbonisation of logistics. Professor McKinnon has been an adviser to several governments, parliamentary committees and international organisations, including the ITF/OECD, the World Bank, European Commission, the United Nations and the IPCC. He was chairman of the World Economic Forum’s Logistics Council and the Transport Advisory Group of the EU Horizon 2020 research programme. 

Jerker Sjögren is economist (Umeå University/School of Economics, 1972). He has a long career within both public and private sector as management consultant or head of different organizations. Since beginning of 2016 Jerker Sjögren is an independent consultant within his own company, Jesjo Konsult. From March 2011 Jerker Sjögren has been responsible for building up and operating CLOSER, a new Swedish arena for transport efficiency, focusing on innovation and research. High Capacity Transport (HCT) is one of three focus areas for CLOSER. Since 2015 Jerker Sjögren has been chairman for the ITF/OECD working group on HCT. Jerker Sjögren was earlier Senior Adviser at the Swedish Ministry of Enterprise, Energy and Communications responsible for strategic logistics issues and coordinator of the Swedish Logistics Forum.

At the European Association for Forwarding, Transport, Logistics and Customs Services (CLECAT), Ms Miglė Blusevičiūtė is focusing on road and maritime transport policy issues at the European level, aiming to integrate sustainability aspects into logistics supply chain. Prior to that, Miglė worked on environmental and sustainability issues pertaining to road transport at the European headquarters of the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company and also as a consultant for Hyundai Motor Europe. Holding a Master’s degree in EU policy studies, she gained experience at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Internal Market and Industry, as well as the World Trade Organisation.

 

Responsible for executive leadership and strengthening relations with partner universities involved in the research and teaching of public administration, public sector leadership and research into public policy and regulation. Chris has had a 20 year career in the Australian public service working in senior executive positions in health, transport and central agency portfolios. Chris’s PhD examined regulatory reform in the Australian trucking sector and current research examines the international transfer of models of road transport regulation, as well as the implications of digital regulation and compliance in the road transport sector.

Melinda Crane is Chief Political Correspondent at Deutsche Welle-TV and hosts the talk shows "Quadriga" and "People and Politics" She was Senior Producer of "Global Players" on CNBC. She has moderated a wide variety of podium discussions and conferences for public organisations and private sector clients. Among her areas of expertise are transatlantic politics; women, family education issues; climate and environment; business and economics; new media and the internet. Crane holds a Juris Doctorate from Harvard Law School and a Doctoral Degree in political economy from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.

Stientje van Veldhoven began her career in 1997 as personal assistant to Elly Plooij van Gorsel, a member of the European Parliament for the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD). From 1999 to 2003 she served as an innovation policy officer at the Ministry of Economic Affairs. From 2003 she worked at the Permanent Representation of the Netherlands to the European Union as first secretary for research policy and as scientific and technological attaché. In 2007 Ms Van Veldhoven became a policy advisor at the European Commission, focusing on the coordination of intergovernmental initiatives. From 2009 to 2010 she was unit coordinator for the Zuidvleugel Randstad region at the Ministry of Economic Affairs. On 17 June 2010 Ms Van Veldhoven became a member of the House of Representatives for Democrats ’66 (D66), with policy responsibility for issues including sustainability, mobility, climate and energy, development cooperation, and agriculture, nature and food quality. From 2012 to 2017 she served as a member of the presidium and secretary to the D66 parliamentary party. On 26 October 2017 Stientje van Veldhoven was appointed State Secretary for Infrastructure and Water Management in the third Rutte government.

François Davenne, a graduate of the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Télécommunications d’Evry in 1988 and of the Ecole Nationale d’Administration (ENA) in 1999, has always promoted interdisciplinarity as a key factor for success. After experience in international satellite telecommunications, his first assignments were in the housing sector and required strong financial and legal skills. He was involved in policy and regulation of the sector, and managed key operational programmes, in particular for the city of Paris. After three years in the French Ministry of Transport working on railway safety and regulations, with the emphasis on European regulations, he was elected Secretary General of OTIF in 2012, where, since 1 January 2013, he has promoted interdisciplinarity and partnership building to expand the uniform regulations for international carriage by rail. He’s currently Deputy Director General of UIC, the International Union of Railways. He will become Director General of the organisation end of June 2019.

 

Umberto de Pretto is the Secretary General of the International Road Transport Union (IRU). He joined the IRU in 1995 as Head of Economic Affairs. He then became Policy Coordinator and Head of Strategy, and was appointed Deputy Secretary General in 2002. His vision looking forward to 2020 is that the IRU will lead the road transport industry in embracing innovation and making sure that the industry is ready for the challenges and opportunities ahead. After graduating from Ottawa’s Carleton University in Political Science, Economics and International Relations, he worked as a Legislative Assistant for Ministers and Members of the Canadian Parliament and then moved to Paris in 1992 to take on the position of Head of the Transport Division, to be shortly afterwards named Deputy Director of the International Chamber of Commerce, responsible for International Commercial Practices and Techniques.

Erik Jonnaert is the Secretary General of the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA), a position he has held since July 2013. Prior to his ACEA appointment, Mr Jonnaert was Procter & Gamble's (P&G) Vice President for External Relations in Europe and Asia. Mr Jonnaert began his career at Linklaters law firm, before moving on to gain over 25 years of public and regulatory affairs, communications, and stakeholder relations experience in various leadership roles at P&G. In addition to his ACEA posting, Mr Jonnaert is currently chairman of the steering committee of EATA, the European Automotive and Telecom Alliance, which aims to accelerate the deployment of connected and automated driving. Jonnaert is also on the Supervisory Board of ERTICO (advocating intelligent mobility solutions) and on the Board of the Mobility as a Service (MaaS) Alliance. A Belgian national, Mr Jonnaert holds masters in law from the University of Ghent, Belgium and from Harvard Law School, USA.

Tomas Eneroth is Minister for Infrastructure of Sweden since July 2017, responsible for transport and infrastructure in the Ministry of Enterprise and Innovation. He studied sociology and political science at Växjö University College. Before being appointed Minister for Infrastructure Mr Eneroth was Parliamentary Group Leader for the Social Democratic Party (2014–2017). Mr Eneroth has been a Member of Parliament since 1994 and during this time he has filled several different positions in different policy areas, including Chairman of the Committee on Social Insurance and Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Industry and Trade. He was a political adviser in the Ministry of Education between 1996 and 2002, and State Secretary in the same Ministry in 1999.

Ms. Hutt Hesse holds a degree in Civil Engineering from the Catholic University of Chile and she has completed International Finance and Business Administration programs at Georgetown University. She was a Professor for the Master’s in Public Policy program in the School of Economics and Business of University of Chile. From June 2014 to January 2018, she was a partner of Quiz Consulting, specializing in transportation studies. She was a member of the board of directors of the Mejillones port facilities company Complejo Portuario Mejillones and consultant for the think tank Consejo de Políticas de Infraestructura and think tank Horizontal. For 12 years, Ms. Hutt Hesse was a partner and Regional Director for Latin America at Steer Davies Gleave, a prestigious British consulting firm specializing in transportation. There she was in charge of operations in Chile, Colombia, and Puerto Rico, and later broadened the presence of the company to Brazil and Mexico. She was a founder member and also the coordinator and general manager for the Evópoli political party. From 2010 to 2014 she acted as Transportation Viceminister. During her office, she coordinated the creation of the National Transportation Policy and development master plans for public transportation and national port and rail systems, proposing a long-term vision for Chilean transportation. A year ago Gloria Hutt Hesse became Minister of Transport and Telecommunications in Chile. In her spare time, she does gardening and follows her passion of designing sewing.

Cécile Texier is the Sustainability & CSR Vice-President of Alstom, a key player in the transport sector, developing and delivering sustainable solutions focused on shared and electrical mobility. Cécile drives the Sustainability, CSR and Climate strategy, 3-year plan and policies, local communities investment programs, sustainability in marketing activities, extra-financial reporting and dialog with stakeholders. In 2018, she was also appointed Global Diversity Champion of the Company.

She initially joined Alstom Group as Environment Health and Safety analyst in 2005 to manage corporate Energy and CO₂ programs. She had previous experience as environmental auditor at KPMG, leading assessments of environmental issues in the frame of merger and acquisition projects and verification of extra-financial data, and at the French National Institute for Environment and Risks (INERIS) where she started her career as environmental management consultant in 1997. She is also a Board member of the Alstom Foundation.

Cécile Texier holds a Civil Engineer degree from Ecole des Mines de Saint-Etienne, France.

 

Rafał Weber is responsible for matters related to road transport, public roads and road safety. Since 2015, he is a member of the Parliament. There, he is a member of the parliamentary committee of infrastructure and national defense commissions.

From 2014 he was the deputy director of the Provincial Traffic Center in Tarnobrzeg (Poland). In 2010-2014 and 2014-2015, the councilor of the City Council in Stalowa Wola (Poland). Mr. Weber is a graduate of the Higher School of Law and Administration in Rzeszów (Poland)

Dragos-Virgil TITEA’s third tenure as Secretary of State at the Ministry of Transport Romania started in 2018. His successive appointments rely on his in-depth interdisciplinary education and professional career in public/ private administration in the transport field, encompassing transport law, aviation and rail sectors and not only.

Dragos-Virgil TITEA holds a JD/LLB degree with the Bucharest University-Faculty of Law, along with post-university certifications in civil aviation security- airport access, monitoring and supervision, civil aviation internal quality audit and security management, as well as in internal affairs, classified information protection, security and governance.

His professional career comprises extensive mandates as a legal/administrative manager at the Romanian Administration of Air Traffic Services (ROMATSA R.A.), and a member of the Administration Board/Shareholders General Assembly at ROMATSA, as well as at the Romanian National Railway Company and the Telecommunications Society of the Romanian National Railway Company.

Saša Dalipagić was born on 20 May 1950 in Kakanj. He attended primary and secondary school (Gymnasium) in Mostar and graduated from the Road Transport College in Zagreb in 1975 earning the degree as road transport engineer. 

1997 – 2015 until he was appointed Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Communications and Transport of Bosnia and Herzegovina he worked with the Ministry of Transport and Communications of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton as Inspector for Road Traffic and Supervision of the Construction and Maintenance of Road Infrastructure. He has also been engaged as Traffic Court-Appointed Expert, having completed in that capacity a large number of expert reports for the courts in this Canton.

 

Mr. Grabert has worked for the United Nations Climate Change Secretariat (UNFCCC) for more than 20 years. He heads the Sustainable Development Mechanisms Programme of the UNFCCC, leading the work on market-based approaches to climate change mitigation. Prior to 2006 he served as a greenhouse gas emissions specialist and worked in numerous expert groups of the United Nation's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. In addition, he also currently leads the secretariat’s work on Global Climate Action in supporting Non-State-Actors’ efforts towards the Paris Agreement. Before joining the United Nations, he was an industry and regional analyst for the World Economic Forum in Geneva, Switzerland.

Mr. Grabert holds a B.A. in Economics and International Relations from Wheaton College, Masters of International Economics from the Institut de Hautes Études Internationales in Geneva, and has undertaken post-graduate studies in Management at Stanford University, University of Navarra (IESE) and London Business School, and in Development at Harvard University.

Juliette Foster is an award-winning broadcaster and businesswoman. She has worked for the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) and has anchored flagship programmes at Bloomberg Television, Sky News and BBC World Service Television.

Since 2013 Diego DIAZ has held the positions of President of SNCF International and International Director of SNCF MOBILITES.

Diego DIAZ began his career as a Product and Project Manager for Thales Avionics before joining Bombardier Transportation where he held several leadership positions in the Services and Light Rail Divisions before being appointed Director of Strategy, Marketing & Sales.

Mr. Diaz holds a Master of Science in Aeronautics & Astronautics from M.I.T (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), a Master of Business Administration from the M.I.T Sloan School of Management and a French engineering degree from the “Institut Supérieur de l’Aéronautique et de l’Espace” (ISAE-SUPAERO). 

Ms. Carvajal is a specialist in the subject of negotiation and alternative dispute resolution. She obtained her MBA with an emphasis on Marketing at the University of San Diego in California and holds a degree in Law from the University of Costa Rica. Her work over the last decade has provided her with extensive experience in the area of public service. She has specialized in Alternative Conflict Resolution Methods and is currently a member of the Centro Internacional de Arbitraje y Conciliación Comercial (International Center for Arbitration and Commercial Conciliation). She was a member of Road Safety Committee, which is led by the Fundación Internacional de Automovilismo (International Automobile Foundation). As Minister of Public Works and Transportation in Costa Rica she achieved a fourfold increase in the investment of public works, the resumption of construction at the national airport, which was stalled due to conflicts, the transformation of the driver’s license system, the promotion of a new traffic law and the inclusion of road safety components in the design of road infrastructure. She is currently Transport Sector Manager for South Asia at the World Bank. Karla is also leading the Gender Task Force for the World Bank's Transport Global Practice, working to operationalize the gender agenda in the transport sector.

Dr. Bipasha Baruah conducts interdisciplinary research on gender, development and globalization; women and work; and social, political and economic inequality. Dr. Baruah’s current research focuses on climate change and social justice. It aims broadly to understand how to ensure that a global low-carbon economy will be more gender equitable and socially just than its fossil-fuel based predecessor. Dr. Baruah frequently serves as an expert reviewer and consultant on gender equality issues to international development and environmental protection organizations.

 

Mattias Landgren is State Secretary to Tomas Eneroth, Minister for Infrastructure. He holds a Master’s Degree in Law from Uppsala University. Prior to serving as State Secretary, Mr. Landgren held various positions at the public sector, including: Political Adviser at the Prime Minister's Office, Chief Legal Officer at the Building Workers' Union and Collective Agreements Expert and Head of Section at Unionen (trade union). He has also worked as a law lecturer at Stockholm University.

Heather Thompson brings decades of experience in the environmental non-profit sector to ITDP. Most recently, she has been advising clients, including the Asian Development Bank, The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, and the Environmental Defense Fund, in designing strategies that will have a large-scale impact. Ms. Thompson has been involved with ITDP for many years, initially as co-founder and Vice President of programs for ClimateWorks. Ms. Thompson has sat on the ITDP board of directors for the last eight years, serving as board chair for the last two years. She holds a MSc in environmental economics from the University of York, U.K. and a B.S. in biological sciences from the University of California, San Diego.

Rana Kortam is the Global Head of Women’s Safety Public Policy for Uber. She leads the company’s efforts around the issue, working with governments, researchers, NGO’s, as well as local policy teams in over 60 countries Uber operates in. Her passion is ensuring women find a safe ride and a flexible way to earn income in Uber.

A born and raised Egyptian, she previously led public policy for Uber in Egypt, shaping the future of regulation for the budding tech ecosystem.

 

A techie at heart, Rana graduated Summa Cum Laude from the American University in Cairo with a Bachelor’s degree in Electronics Engineering. Prior to joining Uber, she led developer relations for Google in the Middle East and Africa, before managing public policy for British American Tobacco in North Africa. Straddling the worlds of tech and policy, and a serious zeal for everything women empowerment, she is an expert in several public policy issues, including women’s mobility and safety, gender based violence especially in transport and public spaces, gender equality and economic enablement.

Pat Cox has been President of the European Parliament Former Members’ Association (2010-2014), President of the European Movement International (2005-2011), a former President of the European Parliament (2002-2004), and Member of the European Parliament (1989-2004). Between 1998 and 2002 he was President of the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party (ELDR) Group European Parliament. Prior to this Cox was a current affairs television broadcaster for RTE, Ireland's national broadcaster, from 1982 to 1986 and Secretary General Progressive Democrat Party (Ireland) between 1986 and 1989.

Andreas Scheuer is Federal Minister of Transport and Digital Infrastructure of Germany since March 2018. He studied political science, economics and sociology at Passau University, graduating with the degree of Magister Artium in 2001. In 2004 he got an award of a doctorate by the Charles University in Prague. Mr Scheuer has been Member of the German Bundestag since 2002. From 2009 to 2013 he was Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Development and Federal Government Coordinator for Freight Transport and Logistics. From December 2013 to March 2018 he was Secretary-General of the Christian Social Union (CSU).

Mr. Lim was born in Masan, Gyeongsangnam-do, in the Republic of Korea. He majored in nautical science at the Korea Maritime and Ocean University (KMOU), Busan, graduating in 1977. He worked on ships as a Korean naval officer and for an international shipping company. He joined the Korea Maritime and Port Administration in 1985, while continuing with further studies at the Graduate School of Administration, Yonsei University, obtaining a Master’s Degree in 1990.  He then studied maritime administration at the World Maritime University (WMU), graduating with a master’s degree. From 1995 he attended a doctoral programme for international law at KMOU, completing course work in 1998.  Mr. Lim began attending IMO meetings as part of the Republic of Korea’s delegation in 1986 and he engaged in activities to promote maritime safety through effective implementation of IMO conventions in his country and other IMO Member States in the Asian region. He was elected Chair of IMO's Sub-Committee on Flag State Implementation (FSI - now III) in 2001 and of the Tokyo Memorandum on Port State Control in 2004.  In 2006, Mr. Lim was appointed Director General of the Maritime Safety Bureau of the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs (MLTM) and then as a Senior Maritime Attaché at the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in London and led all IMO work for the Republic of Korea, serving as an Alternate Permanent Representative to IMO up to August 2009. Following that, he was re-appointed Director General for Maritime Safety Bureau (MLTM). In March 2011, Mr. Lim was appointed Commissioner of the Korean Maritime Safety Tribunal (KMST).  In July 2012, he assumed the position of President of Busan Port Authority, until January 2016 when he took up his appointment as Secretary-General of IMO. 

Alexandre de Juniac became the seventh person to lead the International Air Transport Association (IATA) when he took on the role of Director General and CEO from 1 September 2016. De Juniac has almost three decades of experience in both the private and public sectors. This includes senior positions in the airline and aerospace industries and the French government. De Juniac served as Chairman and CEO of Air France-KLM (2013-2016) and prior to that as Chairman and CEO of Air France (2011-2013). Under de Juniac’s leadership Air France and Air France-KLM underwent a successful restructuring that improved efficiency and strengthened performance. He has also served on the IATA Board of Governors (2013-2016). De Juniac has broad aviation sector experience, including 14 years at French aerospace, space, defense, security and transportation company Thales, and its predecessor companies Thompson-CSF and Thompson SA (1995-2009). In his last position at Thales, de Juniac was responsible for the company’s operations and sales in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America.De Juniac has also held positions in the French government. His career began with the Conseil d’Etat (State Council) from 1988 to 1993. Subsequently, he served in the Department of Budget (1993-1995); and in the Ministry of Economy, Industry and Employment as Chief of Staff to then Minister Christine Lagarde (2009-2011). A French citizen, de Juniac was born in 1962. He is a graduate of the Ecole Polytechnique de Paris and Ecole Nationale de l’Administration. At IATA he works from both the association’s main offices in Montreal, Canada and Geneva, Switzerland.

Stientje van Veldhoven began her career in 1997 as personal assistant to Elly Plooij van Gorsel, a member of the European Parliament for the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD). From 1999 to 2003 she served as an innovation policy officer at the Ministry of Economic Affairs. From 2003 she worked at the Permanent Representation of the Netherlands to the European Union as first secretary for research policy and as scientific and technological attaché. In 2007 Ms Van Veldhoven became a policy advisor at the European Commission, focusing on the coordination of intergovernmental initiatives. From 2009 to 2010 she was unit coordinator for the Zuidvleugel Randstad region at the Ministry of Economic Affairs. On 17 June 2010 Ms Van Veldhoven became a member of the House of Representatives for Democrats ’66 (D66), with policy responsibility for issues including sustainability, mobility, climate and energy, development cooperation, and agriculture, nature and food quality. From 2012 to 2017 she served as a member of the presidium and secretary to the D66 parliamentary party. On 26 October 2017 Stientje van Veldhoven was appointed State Secretary for Infrastructure and Water Management in the third Rutte government.

Mr. Jeong Ryeol Kim was appointed as Vice Minister for Transport, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport of Korea in April 2018. Having joined the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport from 1989, he has been in senior positions in Transport and Logistics, Road, Public Housing Construction, Policy Planning, as well as Public Agency Relocation departments. He also has experience as visiting professor in Portland State University, USA in 2015, as well as seconded to Urban Housing Office in Gyeonggi Provincial Government, Korea.

Dr Amani Abou-Zeid is the African Union Commissioner in charge of Infrastructure, Energy, ICT and Tourism.

For more than 30 years, Commissioner Abou-Zeid has served in leadership positions in international organisations, such as the African Development Bank, UNDP and USAID, with a focus on infrastructure and energy programmes. Over her career, she has amassed a remarkable mix of experience from across Africa, France, UK and Canada and worked across constituencies and with wide array of stakeholders.

An Egyptian national, Dr Abou-Zeid has a multi-disciplinary academic training: B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from Cairo University; an MBA in project management from the French University for African Development (Université Senghor); a Masters of Public Administration MC/MPA from Harvard School of Government; and a Ph.D. in Social and Economic Development from The University of Manchester, UK. She also has a degree in Arts from Université Sorbonne-Paris IV.

Li Xiaopeng is serving as the Minister of Transport of the P.R. China. He is the former chief executive of China Huaneng Group, a power generation company. He was also Governor of Shanxi between 2012 and 2016.

Secretary Elaine L. Chao is the U.S. Secretary of Transportation. She also served as U.S. Secretary of Labor, the first Asian American woman appointed to the President's cabinet in American history. Prior to the Department of Labor, Secretary Chao was President and Chief Executive Officer of United Way of America.

She has also served as Deputy Maritime Administrator; Chairman of the Federal Maritime Commission; Deputy U.S. Secretary of Transportation; and, Director of the Peace Corps.  She earned her MBA from the Harvard Business School.

Axel Threlfall is Editor-at-Large, Reuters, based in London. Alongside his editorial duties, he hosts high-profile engagements and thought leadership events for and on behalf of Reuters and Thomson Reuters, such as the Newsmaker series and the World Economic Forum news programs in Davos. He was previously Lead European Anchor for Reuters Digital Video. Prior to joining Reuters, Axel spent four years as an anchor for CNBC in London. Before that, he was an editor with The Wall Street Journal in New York and a news reporter for Bloomberg in London. He has also advised businesses and NGOs on their dealings with the international media. Axel is frequently asked to moderate events for international organizations, including the United Nations and the OECD. He has a BA in History from Durham University and a postgraduate degree in journalism from City University, London.

Secretary Elaine L. Chao is the U.S. Secretary of Transportation. She also served as U.S. Secretary of Labor, the first Asian American woman appointed to the President's cabinet in American history. Prior to the Department of Labor, Secretary Chao was President and Chief Executive Officer of United Way of America.

She has also served as Deputy Maritime Administrator; Chairman of the Federal Maritime Commission; Deputy U.S. Secretary of Transportation; and, Director of the Peace Corps.  She earned her MBA from the Harvard Business School.

Li Xiaopeng is serving as the Minister of Transport of the P.R. China. He is the former chief executive of China Huaneng Group, a power generation company. He was also Governor of Shanxi between 2012 and 2016.

Mr. Lim was born in Masan, Gyeongsangnam-do, in the Republic of Korea. He majored in nautical science at the Korea Maritime and Ocean University (KMOU), Busan, graduating in 1977. He worked on ships as a Korean naval officer and for an international shipping company. He joined the Korea Maritime and Port Administration in 1985, while continuing with further studies at the Graduate School of Administration, Yonsei University, obtaining a Master’s Degree in 1990.  He then studied maritime administration at the World Maritime University (WMU), graduating with a master’s degree. From 1995 he attended a doctoral programme for international law at KMOU, completing course work in 1998.  Mr. Lim began attending IMO meetings as part of the Republic of Korea’s delegation in 1986 and he engaged in activities to promote maritime safety through effective implementation of IMO conventions in his country and other IMO Member States in the Asian region. He was elected Chair of IMO's Sub-Committee on Flag State Implementation (FSI - now III) in 2001 and of the Tokyo Memorandum on Port State Control in 2004.  In 2006, Mr. Lim was appointed Director General of the Maritime Safety Bureau of the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs (MLTM) and then as a Senior Maritime Attaché at the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in London and led all IMO work for the Republic of Korea, serving as an Alternate Permanent Representative to IMO up to August 2009. Following that, he was re-appointed Director General for Maritime Safety Bureau (MLTM). In March 2011, Mr. Lim was appointed Commissioner of the Korean Maritime Safety Tribunal (KMST).  In July 2012, he assumed the position of President of Busan Port Authority, until January 2016 when he took up his appointment as Secretary-General of IMO. 

Ms. Hutt Hesse holds a degree in Civil Engineering from the Catholic University of Chile and she has completed International Finance and Business Administration programs at Georgetown University. She was a Professor for the Master’s in Public Policy program in the School of Economics and Business of University of Chile. From June 2014 to January 2018, she was a partner of Quiz Consulting, specializing in transportation studies. She was a member of the board of directors of the Mejillones port facilities company Complejo Portuario Mejillones and consultant for the think tank Consejo de Políticas de Infraestructura and think tank Horizontal. For 12 years, Ms. Hutt Hesse was a partner and Regional Director for Latin America at Steer Davies Gleave, a prestigious British consulting firm specializing in transportation. There she was in charge of operations in Chile, Colombia, and Puerto Rico, and later broadened the presence of the company to Brazil and Mexico. She was a founder member and also the coordinator and general manager for the Evópoli political party. From 2010 to 2014 she acted as Transportation Viceminister. During her office, she coordinated the creation of the National Transportation Policy and development master plans for public transportation and national port and rail systems, proposing a long-term vision for Chilean transportation. A year ago Gloria Hutt Hesse became Minister of Transport and Telecommunications in Chile. In her spare time, she does gardening and follows her passion of designing sewing.

Melinda Hanson, Senior Manager for Sustainability, joined Bird from the National Association of City Transportation Officials, where she served as deputy director of NACTO's international programs. Before that, Melinda was a consultant for the Asian Development Bank, helping design and implement public transit projects in Pakistan and the Philippines. Earlier in her career, she was a founding staff member of the ClimateWorks Foundation where she managed the sustainable transport portfolio

Tomas Eneroth is Minister for Infrastructure of Sweden since July 2017, responsible for transport and infrastructure in the Ministry of Enterprise and Innovation. He studied sociology and political science at Växjö University College. Before being appointed Minister for Infrastructure Mr Eneroth was Parliamentary Group Leader for the Social Democratic Party (2014–2017). Mr Eneroth has been a Member of Parliament since 1994 and during this time he has filled several different positions in different policy areas, including Chairman of the Committee on Social Insurance and Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Industry and Trade. He was a political adviser in the Ministry of Education between 1996 and 2002, and State Secretary in the same Ministry in 1999.

Jaeho Lee has been a Director of Digital Economy Institute of Kakao Mobility. The company is the number one mobility platform of Republic of Korea, providing services of taxi hailing, navigation, parking, designated driver, and electric bike sharing. As of April 2019, the number of registered users is more than 22 million.  

Jaeho is also a member of the Technology Commercialization Advisory Board and the Industry-Academia Networks Forum of Korean Government. He worked for Hyundai Research Institute, Hyundai Motor Company, and LGCNS as an economist and consultant. His specialties include digital economy, O2O business, automotive industry, and industrial policies. 

Mr. Michio Kikuchi was appointed as Vice-Minister for Engineering Affairs for the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism (MLIT) of Japan in July 2018. Having joined the Ministry of Transport in April 1985, he has held senior leadership positions mainly in Ports and Harbours Bureau. He holds a Master of Science in Civil Engineering.

Rafał Weber is responsible for matters related to road transport, public roads and road safety. Since 2015, he is a member of the Parliament. There, he is a member of the parliamentary committee of infrastructure and national defense commissions.

From 2014 he was the deputy director of the Provincial Traffic Center in Tarnobrzeg (Poland). In 2010-2014 and 2014-2015, the councilor of the City Council in Stalowa Wola (Poland). Mr. Weber is a graduate of the Higher School of Law and Administration in Rzeszów (Poland)

Chris Grayling was appointed as Secretary of State for Transport on 14 July 2016. He was elected Conservative MP for Epsom and Ewell in 2001.

 Chris served as Minister of State at the Department for Work and Pensions from May 2010 until September 2012. He was Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice from September 2012 until May 2015, and Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons from May 2015 until 14 July 2016. He also held a number of shadow front bench posts, including Shadow Home Secretary and Shadow Secretary of State for Transport.

 Chris was educated at The Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe and Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, where he studied history.

Mr. Jeong Ryeol Kim was appointed as Vice Minister for Transport, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport of Korea in April 2018. Having joined the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport from 1989, he has been in senior positions in Transport and Logistics, Road, Public Housing Construction, Policy Planning, as well as Public Agency Relocation departments. He also has experience as visiting professor in Portland State University, USA in 2015, as well as seconded to Urban Housing Office in Gyeonggi Provincial Government, Korea.

David Thiel, General Manager JUMP Berlin, joined Uber in 2014 and held several positions at Uber in Germany, Switzerland and The Netherlands. He introduced new business models, led EMEA product operations and most recently launched the JUMP bicycles business in Germany. Prior to Uber, David gained experience in automotive industry focusing on quality and lean methodologies at Toyota and Porsche Consulting. He holds a degree in Aerospace Engineering and Business Administration.

Maurice Geraets MSc MBA is statutory director for the main legal entity of NXP Semiconductors world wide: NXP Semiconductors Netherlands B.V., with a yearly financial revenue of multi billion USD. Mr Geraets has 25 years of experience in the IT and electronics industry and works at NXP Semiconductors since 2002. In his current position he focuses on disruptive innovations for ‘secure connections for a smarter world’. This concerns e.g. intelligent transport systems (ITS) and automated driving. Next to his role at NXP, Maurice is active in the governance of the 1 billion Euro Dutch SmartwayZ program, is board member of several associations on automotive and mobility, is member of the High Level ITS Advisory Group to the European Commission and is member of the management committee of the European public private partnership AENEAS.

Before joining NXP, Mr. Geraets held positions as Business Manager In-Product Software and Global Client Manager with Atos, the largest European IT services company. In his Global Client Manager role, he was also responsible for the largest part of the Atos business in Asia. In his early working life Mr. Geraets served as Lieutenant in the Royal Dutch Navy.

Mr. Geraets holds an Executive MBA degree and a Master of Science degree in Computer Science. Mr. Geraets is Dutch and was born in 1968.

His Excellency Dr. Eng. Abdulla  Al-Nuaimi joined the Federal Government in 2013 as Minister of infrastructure Development, which is responsible of developing the infrastructure of the federal state road networks and federal buildings (schools, hospitals, government buildings, research centers, cultural and sports centers, police stations and civil defense, housing for the citizens, and other governmental projects).

Beside his responsibilities as a Minister Dr. Eng. Abdulla Al-Nuaimi is Chairman of Sheikh Zayed Housing Program and also he is a Chairman of Federal Transport Authority. 

Dr. Eng. Abdulla Al Nuaimi holds a Ph.D. degree in Construction Management from the University Of Reading, UK (1990), and a Bachelor degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin in USA (1980). Among his hobbies playing tennis, swimming and reading.

Melinda Crane is Chief Political Correspondent at Deutsche Welle-TV and hosts the talk shows "Quadriga" and "People and Politics" She was Senior Producer of "Global Players" on CNBC. She has moderated a wide variety of podium discussions and conferences for public organisations and private sector clients. Among her areas of expertise are transatlantic politics; women, family education issues; climate and environment; business and economics; new media and the internet. Crane holds a Juris Doctorate from Harvard Law School and a Doctoral Degree in political economy from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.

Mr. Christian Labrot is the President of the International Road Transport Union (IRU). He enjoys a distinguished career in transport, which started in 1979 at BWV, the German Association of Professional Transport Companies and Shippers.  He was appointed Managing Director of BWV in 1990 and became Secretary General of the German Federation of Economics, Transport and Logistics in 1995. Mr Labrot has also served as a member of various IRU Commissions for many years, including: President of the IRU Liaison Committee for own-account transport and Vice-President of the Goods Transport Liaison Committee with the European Union. Mr Labrot studied Economics at the University of Bonn, Germany, specialising in transport economics, where he graduated in 1979. He also holds an MA in Economics. 

Mr Georges, previously a member of the Belgian diplomatic corps, was until last August the Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of Belgium to the OSCE in Vienna. During his diplomatic career, Mr Georges has accumulated experience in embassies and at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as well as at the Permanent Representation of the Kingdom of Belgium to the European Union. He is now looking forward to giving the benefit of his skills to the Central Commission for the Navigation of the Rhine.

Stephen Cotton is General Secretary of the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), a global union federation of 665 trade unions representing 18.5 million transport workers in 147 countries in the maritime, port, aviation, road, rail and urban transport sectors. He was elected at the 43rd ITF Congress in Sofia, Bulgaria in 2014.

Under his leadership, the ITF has transformed into a proactive campaigning organisation, allowing the ITF and its affiliates to secure industry-leading contracts and protocols with key multinational companies in the transport sector.

He is Chair of the Council of Global Unions (CGU), a Trustee of the ITF Seafarers’ Trust and serves on the United Seaman’s Service (USS) governing body. In 2014, Cotton received the USS Admiral of the Ocean Sea (AOTOS) Award, in recognition of his work defending the well-being and fair treatment of seafarers.

As Director Global Implementation at the ICLEI World Secretariat, Sunandan Tiwari is engaged in strategy formulation, project acquisition and implementation, developing new initiatives, as well as partnership building. He has over 15 years of experience in designing and implementing international cooperation projects with a range of bilateral and multilateral agencies and foundations. With a Masters’ degree in Ecology and over 20 years of experience, his areas of expertise cover social, environmental and economic spheres for sustainable development in the urban and rural domains. Currently, Sunandan is coordinating several projects being implemented in multiple countries in the Global South, one of which focuses on developing actionable strategies and plans for sustainable urban freight.

Muneeza is an Economist at the World Bank with over ten years of experience in the development field. She is particularly interested in issues relating to economic and social inclusion.

Dr. Daniel Sperling is Professor of Civil Engineering and Environmental Science and Policy, and founding Director of the Institute of Transportation Studies at the University of California, Davis (ITS-Davis). The Institute has over 150 faculty, staff and student researchers. He has led ITS-Davis to international prominence by building strong partnerships with industry, government, and the environmental community, integrating interdisciplinary research and education programs, and connecting research with public outreach and education. 

Regina Clewlow is the CEO and Co-founder of Populus, a data platform for cities to manage the future of mobility. Trusted by leading cities and the world’s largest mobility operators, the Populus platform securely ingests real-time data from shared electric scooters, bikes, and cars - helping operators and cities partner to deliver safe, equitable, and efficient streets through better data and analytics.

 

Regina has over a decade of experience in transportation, having served as a research scientist and lecturer at Stanford, UC Berkeley, and UC Davis. Prior to forming Populus, Regina was the Director of Business Development and Strategy at RideScout, an early mobility-as-a-service aggregator that was acquired by moovel, Daimler and BMW’s mobility services unit. Regina has been named a 40 Under 40 by Mass Transit magazine and the San Francisco Business Times. She has a Ph.D. in transportation and energy systems from MIT, and a bachelor’s in computer science from Cornell.

As its chief executive, Bhatt promotes policies that advance the development and deployment of intelligent transportation technologies throughout the United States. He has testified before Congress about the positive safety impact of intelligent transportation technologies, including connected and automated vehicles. Bhatt is a leading voice in transportation on technology’s ability to save lives and reduce crashes on U.S. roadways. He speaks extensively about the importance of vehicles to communicate with each other and all roadway users as one of the best ways to improve safety and reduce congestion. He is also passionate about reducing transportation’s carbon footprint and the need to provide seamless mobility and transportation choices to people no matter where they live. Bhatt was appointed as a transportation leader by three governors. While serving as Executive Director for the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT), the agency launched the Road X program, which is focused on deploying innovative technology solutions such as connected vehicles and teaming with the private sector to shape the future of transportation. Prior to CDOT, Bhatt was Cabinet Secretary for the Delaware Department of Transportation. He was also a presidential appointee at the U.S. Department of Transportation. Bhatt has served as Chair of the Board of Directors for the National Operations Center of Excellence (NOCoE) and the Executive Committee of the I-95 Corridor Coalition; he was a member of the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Agenda Council on the Future of Automotive and Personal Transport. Bhatt graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Western Kentucky University. He lives with his wife and two young daughters in Washington, DC.

Chris Snyder is the CEO of ViaVan and the Senior Vice President of Expansion at Via, where he oversees the company's global expansion efforts. Prior to Via, Chris built next-generation biomedical supercomputing architectures at D. E. Shaw Research and developed analytics products for mission-driven organizations at Edgeflip. He is a 2004 graduate of Harvard University. 

Juliette Foster is an award-winning broadcaster and businesswoman. She has worked for the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) and has anchored flagship programmes at Bloomberg Television, Sky News and BBC World Service Television.

Mr Giampaolo Botta, 47 age, is the General Manager of Spediporto, the leading maritime forwarders association in Italy, it also represents couriers and truck drivers of Genoa. He is a member of Confetra, the main Italian logistics confederation; Sea Working Group of FIATA (International Federation of Forwarders); Committee for impartiality and protection of RINA; member of the mixed commission for the port and customs of the port of Genoa. He is also a member of the board of directors in various logistics and ICT Italian companies.

Philippe Villard has been Airports Council International (ACI) World’s Head, Policy and Economics since February 2017. His main responsibilities include developing airport economic policies; airport charges and aeronautical business development; and airport slots and capacity policies. Prior to joining ACI, Philippe held positions with increasing responsibilities in air transport economic policy development, and airport user charges and aeronautical revenues at the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the International Air Transport Association (IATA). He holds a Master’s in Public Policy from the Paris Institute of Political Studies, France, and a PhD in Political Science from Concordia University in Montreal, Canada.

Hongjoo Hahm joined ESCAP in January 2016 as the Deputy Executive Secretary for Programmes. He served as Acting Executive Secretary from May to December 2018. Prior, he worked at the World Bank in various positions - as Senior Advisor to the Water Global Practice Group; Country Manager for the Balkans; Head of the Infrastructure Unit in the World Bank Office in Jakarta (transport, energy, urban, and water and sanitation sectors); and Program Manager for the post-tsunami reconstruction of Aceh, post-earthquake Yogyakarta, and flood mitigation in Jakarta. Hongjoo Hahm worked at Goldman Sachs LLC as the Global Head for Central Banks, Official Institutions and Sovereign Wealth Funds for five years. He also worked at the Asian Development Bank, the Korea Development Institute, and taught economics at New York University, Queens College, and the City University of New York.

Hongjoo Hahm graduated from Cairo American College, received his B.A. from the College of William and Mary; M.Phil from the London School of Economics; and Ph.D. from New York University. He has an Executive MBA from Harvard Business School and a diploma from the Cambridge University Programme for Sustainable Development. He also graduated from Korea’s Third Military Academy and was commissioned as an officer in the Korean Army.

Melinda Crane is Chief Political Correspondent at Deutsche Welle-TV and hosts the talk shows "Quadriga" and "People and Politics" She was Senior Producer of "Global Players" on CNBC. She has moderated a wide variety of podium discussions and conferences for public organisations and private sector clients. Among her areas of expertise are transatlantic politics; women, family education issues; climate and environment; business and economics; new media and the internet. Crane holds a Juris Doctorate from Harvard Law School and a Doctoral Degree in political economy from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.

Karla Peijs was appointed European Coordinator for the TEN-T Rhine-Danube Corridor on 12 March 2014. Ms Peijs has previously been European Coordinator responsible for Inland Waterways, in particular Priority Project 18 Rhine/Meuse-Main-Danube, and Priority Project 30 Seine-Scheldt, between September 2007 and December 2013.

François Davenne, a graduate of the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Télécommunications d’Evry in 1988 and of the Ecole Nationale d’Administration (ENA) in 1999, has always promoted interdisciplinarity as a key factor for success. After experience in international satellite telecommunications, his first assignments were in the housing sector and required strong financial and legal skills. He was involved in policy and regulation of the sector, and managed key operational programmes, in particular for the city of Paris. After three years in the French Ministry of Transport working on railway safety and regulations, with the emphasis on European regulations, he was elected Secretary General of OTIF in 2012, where, since 1 January 2013, he has promoted interdisciplinarity and partnership building to expand the uniform regulations for international carriage by rail. He’s currently Deputy Director General of UIC, the International Union of Railways. He will become Director General of the organisation end of June 2019.

 

Director Hinojosa assumed her elected post in the Compliance and Facilitation Directorate of the World Customs Organization (WCO), effective January 1, 2016. She leads the directorate that is responsible assisting Members in implementing effective and efficient controls, ensuring fair and accurate revenue collection, and protecting society by intercepting and suppressing illicit and criminal activities. The directorate has the twin goal of securing and facilitating legitimate global supply chains through the simplification and harmonization of Customs procedures. In order to accomplish this, the Directorate, working with WCO Members, develops international standards covering all aspects of trade processes. Prior to her election and transition to her current post, she served nearly 29 years with the United States Custom Service/Customs and Border Protection (CBP). She is fluent in English and Spanish, and is currently studying French.

An industry-known leader, Gene Seroka brings more than 29 years of experience in shipping, global logistics and executive management to the Port of Los Angeles. As executive director of the busiest container port in North America, he is responsible for managing more than a $1 billion budget, leading a team of more than 900 employees, advancing major capital projects, growing cargo volumes, and promoting innovative, sustainable practices that improve Southern California’s economy and quality of life. His duties involve interacting with a wide range of stakeholders, including Port customers worldwide, supply chain partners, labor, community members, and elected and appointed officials at all levels. He is a member of the U.S. Department of Commerce Advisory Committee on Supply Chain Competitiveness, U.S. Department of Transportation Bureau of Transportation Port Performance Freight Statistics Working Group, U.S. Maritime Administration Marine Transportation System National Advisory Committee, and Federal Maritime Commission Supply Chain Innovation Team. He is an alumnus of the University of New Orleans, where he earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and a Master’s Degree in Business Administration.

Max is the global head of Strategy & Business Development of Siemens Mobility, a world market leader in sustainable transport technologies for rail and road. Earlier roles within the transport sector included Head of Digital Transformation of Siemens’ Intelligent Transport Systems, CEO of Siemens Mobility Australia and Global Head of Siemens’ Software Solutions for Railways. Earlier he worked seven years as a Management Consultant with strong focus on the Transport and Building Technology sectors. He started his career in a German “Mittelstands”-Champion. Max holds a Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Technical University of Vienna, Austria, and a PhD in Logistics from University of Göttingen, Germany.

In 1996, Hichem Ben Ahmed obtained the diploma of specialized graduate studies (postgraduate) at the IHEC of Carthage in management (tourism option) and a master's degree in high commercial studies in June 1992.

Hichem Ben Ahmed is Tunisia's Chief negotiator for the European Union Free Trade Agreement (ALECA),

In 2016, he was nominated Secretary of State for transport and then appointed in 2017 Secretary of State for foreign trade before his appointment as Minister of transport since November 2018.

He also served as Governor of Mahdia, the General Manager of Tunisair handling, the Secretary General of the governorate of Ben Arous and the advisor to Minister of Trade.

Hichem Ben Ahmed taught at the High school of commerce (ESC)

He was a member of several boards of Directors of the Tunisian Agency of electronic certification, Mauritanian Airways, Commissariat General for regional development, Etc.

Ali Aslan is an international television presenter, moderator and journalist. His career has included working for global news networks such as CNN, ABC News, Channel News Asia and Deutsche Welle TV.

The Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER) brings together more than 70 railway undertakings, their national associations as well as infrastructure managers and vehicle leasing companies. Prior to his current role, Libor Lochman was CER Deputy Executive Director and leader of technical affairs. 

Björn Westerberg is the CEO of ASTOC – The Association of Swedish Train Operating Companies (42 members). Björn is a policy professional,  working to enhance the quality , capacity and competitiveness of railway operators in Sweden and the EU. Previously he held several positions with SJ, the Swedish National Railway Co, i.e. Head of Strategy, Head of High Speed Train Procurement and Head of ERTMS. Before joining SJ, Björn was a partner at a technology strategy advisory firm for six years. He has been an advisor to industrial companies, government agencies, start-ups, venture capital firms and financial institutions on strategy, technology, and financing. Björn holds a business degree from the Stockholm School of Economics and a M.Sc. in Management, Sloan Fellow, from Stanford Graduate School of Business, Stanford University, USA.

Ms. Akiko Yoshida is Assistant Vice Minister for International Affairs for the Ministry of Land Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism(MLIT) of Japan.

She has held various positions in the MLIT and other government agencies in the transport and tourism sector including railways. Recently, she worked as a legal advisor to a London Based IGO, IOPC Funds. She earned a Bachelor of Laws from Kyoto University in Japan and a LL.M. from NYU School of Law in the United States. 

Graduated from Lomonosov Moscow State University with the major in Mechanics and Mathematics. Also, received an MBA degree in Euromanagement from the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration. From 2011 until 2015, worked in private financial and oil&gas companies where was in charge of business and financial analytics and various projects. In 2015, entered Moscow Metro as Manager of Investment Development Department. In 2018, appointed as Director of Investment Development Department.
In Moscow Metro Anton Sevastyanov is in charge of:
- long-term strategic development
- investment planning and analysis
- investment control
- project management.

 Mr Li is based in Hong Kong and is responsible for three functional areas: development and execution monitoring of MTR’s corporate strategy, development and delivery of corporate-level innovation programs, and management of Information Technology services.  Prior to joining the MTR, he was a Managing Director at Accenture, with leadership roles across numerous practices, including Consulting, Technology, Digital and Operations in the Asia Pacific region.  Mr. Li graduated from University of California in Los Angeles USA with a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science.

Mr. Sassi HAMMAMI, a trained engineer with a focus on "Transport", began his career in 1980 in the Ministry of Transport where he participated actively in several studies and reform and restructuring cases in the transport sector. He held the posts of Head of Service, Assistant Director and Head of Central Administration.

Since 2012, he is Secretary General of the Ministry of Transport. In this role, he ensures coordination between the Ministry's structures and the public institutions and enterprises under his supervision.

 

Melinda Hanson, Senior Manager for Sustainability, joined Bird from the National Association of City Transportation Officials, where she served as deputy director of NACTO's international programs. Before that, Melinda was a consultant for the Asian Development Bank, helping design and implement public transit projects in Pakistan and the Philippines. Earlier in her career, she was a founding staff member of the ClimateWorks Foundation where she managed the sustainable transport portfolio

Dr Robert Guild is Chief Sector Officer of the Asian Development Bank. He is responsible for ADB-wide technical collaboration, innovation, and knowledge management for sector groups in transport, energy, urban, water, education, health, and finance; and coordination with thematic groups for agriculture and rural development, gender, social development, environment, regional cooperation, and climate change and disaster risk management. He is also responsible for management and resource mobilization for 19 bank-wide trust funds covering all sectors.

 

Dr Guild is an expert on infrastructure investment for social and economic development. He has advised governments, the private sector, and multilateral institutions in over two dozen countries in Asia, the Pacific, and Latin America on public investments, public-private partnerships, and national and regional development plans. His published work covers transport and urban economics, interregional development, and public investment policy.

 

Dr Guild began his career as an engineer in the United States and has worked extensively for bilateral and multilateral agencies in international development. He has held faculty appointments at universities in the United States, the Pacific region, and New Zealand. He has been with the Asian Development Bank since 2003.

Dr Guild holds degrees in civil engineering, public administration, urban and regional planning, and international development.

Heather Thompson brings decades of experience in the environmental non-profit sector to ITDP. Most recently, she has been advising clients, including the Asian Development Bank, The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, and the Environmental Defense Fund, in designing strategies that will have a large-scale impact. Ms. Thompson has been involved with ITDP for many years, initially as co-founder and Vice President of programs for ClimateWorks. Ms. Thompson has sat on the ITDP board of directors for the last eight years, serving as board chair for the last two years. She holds a MSc in environmental economics from the University of York, U.K. and a B.S. in biological sciences from the University of California, San Diego.

Katja Schechtner is an urban scientist who holds a dual appointment between MIT and OECD to develop new technologies and shape innovative policies to keep cities on the move.

Currently she focuses on the future of algorithmic governance - and what it will mean for cities and citizens’ mobility when the legal code is fully implemented in digital code. She also leads ITF’s work on global regulation for drones – in order to ensure their acceptance and integration with the overall transport system and her passion for creating inclusive growth is reflected in the report she will be presenting at the summit: “Expanding Innovation Horizons – Learning from Transport Solutions in the Global South”.  

Previously she worked at the Asian Development Bank implementing transport technology projects across Asia; formulated smart public space strategies for the Inter-American Development Bank in Costa Rica and Argentina; advised the EU Commission on Smart City programs and headed the applied research lab for Dynamic Transportation Systems at the Austrian Institute of Technology.

Katja has published widely, both in scientific journals and the popular press in the US, Asia and Europe, including two books: “Accountability Technologies – Tools for Asking Hard Questions” and “Inscribing a Square – Urban Data as Public Space”, (Birkhaeuser, 2012 and 2014). She is an advisor to start-ups in the urban, mobility and crypto industries in the US and Europe and to city planning authorities, mainly in Europe and Asia. 

Her work has been exhibited globally at venues such as Venice Architecture Biennale, MAK , Cooper Hewitt and ars electronica. She also holds a Visiting Professorship at Technical University Vienna and curates urban tech exhibitions across the globe. Most recently her project to design and implement contemporary e-trikes in Nepal and Laos was awarded in the Fast Company World Changing Ideas 2018 transportation track and she will exhibit her work on Manila’s smart urban lighting at the Seoul Urbanism Biennale in fall 2019. 

Ray O’Leary is the Assistant Secretary dealing with Roads and Road Safety.  He also has administrative responsibilities for the Air and Rail Accident Investigation Units which operate independently of the Department under EU and international law.  His area covers the Department’s investment, policy and oversight roles in relation to roads, and a range of areas relating to road safety and regulation of traffic generally, including bodies such as Transport Infrastructure Ireland, the Road Safety Authority and the Medical Bureau of Road Safety.

He previously worked in the Tourism Division and, prior to joining the Department, worked in the Department of Finance and the Department of the Environment.  He has also worked in the former Southern and Eastern Regional Assembly and started his career in UK and Irish local government, after studying Urban and Regional Planning and Civil Engineering.

Ali Aslan is an international television presenter, moderator and journalist. His career has included working for global news networks such as CNN, ABC News, Channel News Asia and Deutsche Welle TV.

Mohamed Mezghani has been working for more than 25 years in public transport and urban mobility related fields. He has been elected Secretary General of the International Association of Public Transport (UITP) and will be taking office on 1/01/2018. He has been Deputy Secretary General of UITP the since January 2014. Until then, he has worked at UITP as Senior Manager (1999-2001) and Knowledge Director (2001-2006) chairing the department developing knowledge-related services for UITP members: professional training, research projects, thematic studies, technical advice, conferences, networking activities, information centre, etc. From 2006 till 2013, he has worked as independent consultant and Adviser to UITP on several technical assistance and training projects in Africa and the Middle-East and managed a number of projects involving numerous experts and multidisciplinary teams. Before joining UITP, M. Mezghani has been working as consultant in the French group, BCEOM, (from 1990 to 1999) more particularly in the urban mobility field. He has managed and carried out projects including policy definition, technical assistance and research activities in several countries in Europe, sub-Saharan Africa and Arab countries. During his collaboration with the French Agency for Environment and Energy Management, ADEME, (from 1988-1990), M. Mezghani carried out actions aimed at identifying and evaluating transport energy efficiency projects likely to be financed by the Agency in France. He has been graduated in Industrial Engineering (1987) from Ecole Nationale d’Ingénieurs de Tunis, Tunisia and has a Master in Transport (1988) from Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées, Paris, France.

Dr. Schroeder is the President of the World Blind Union, an organization representing the needs of the estimated 253 million blind and partially sighted people around the globe.

Dr. Schroeder has lead the WBU’s work to establish an international standard requiring electric and hybrid vehicles to emit a minimum alert sound when traveling at slow speeds. Electric and hybrid vehicles are nearly silent when traveling below 20 KPH, making pedestrian accidents more frequent. Before expanding his work to the international stage, Dr. Schroeder had a long history of advocacy in the United States at the local, state and national levels. In 1994, President Bill Clinton appointed Dr. Schroeder to serve as the Commissioner of the Rehabilitation Services Administration—the federal agency that provides the majority of the funding for employment and independent living services for people with disabilities in the U.S. Today, Dr. Schroeder is a research professor with San Diego State University. 

Seleta Reynolds is General Manager of the Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT) appointed by the Administration of Mayor Eric Garcetti. Ms. Reynolds is responsible for implementing Great Streets for Los Angeles, a plan to reduce traffic fatalities, double the number of people riding bikes, and expand access to integrated transportation choices for Angelinos and the region. Ms. Reynolds has over 18 years of transportation experience throughout the United States. She has advised transportation technology companies like WalkScore, contributed to the state-of-the-practice as an Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals Board Member, mentored young professionals through Women’s Transportation Seminar, and nurtured research on Transportation Research Board committees. Ms. Reynolds serves as the President of the National Association for City Transportation Officials.

Ms. Hutt Hesse holds a degree in Civil Engineering from the Catholic University of Chile and she has completed International Finance and Business Administration programs at Georgetown University. She was a Professor for the Master’s in Public Policy program in the School of Economics and Business of University of Chile. From June 2014 to January 2018, she was a partner of Quiz Consulting, specializing in transportation studies. She was a member of the board of directors of the Mejillones port facilities company Complejo Portuario Mejillones and consultant for the think tank Consejo de Políticas de Infraestructura and think tank Horizontal. For 12 years, Ms. Hutt Hesse was a partner and Regional Director for Latin America at Steer Davies Gleave, a prestigious British consulting firm specializing in transportation. There she was in charge of operations in Chile, Colombia, and Puerto Rico, and later broadened the presence of the company to Brazil and Mexico. She was a founder member and also the coordinator and general manager for the Evópoli political party. From 2010 to 2014 she acted as Transportation Viceminister. During her office, she coordinated the creation of the National Transportation Policy and development master plans for public transportation and national port and rail systems, proposing a long-term vision for Chilean transportation. A year ago Gloria Hutt Hesse became Minister of Transport and Telecommunications in Chile. In her spare time, she does gardening and follows her passion of designing sewing.

With a population of over 500 000, Leipzig, is the largest city in the German federal state of Saxony. Burkhard Jung has been mayor since 2006. He is a representative of the Germany's Social Democratic Party.

Dr. Keechoo Choi is Chair of the Metropolitan Transport Commission of Korean Government. He is also a professor of transportation and a director for the National Engineering Research Center [ERC] of Sustainable Urban Transportation at Ajou University.

He is the ex-president of the Korean Society of Transportation [KST] 2017-2019 and ex-chairman of the Korean PIARC (World Road Association). His specialities include travel demand forecasting, travel time estimation for ITS and C-ITS, sustainable transportation with environmental concerns, and public transportation. His recent research area also covers autonomous and connected vehicle implementation with infrastructure revision. He is the founder and current Editor-in-Chief of International Journal of Sustainable Transportation (SSCI in Transportation), editorial board member of Journal of  ITS, both by Taylor and Francis, also a board member of Transportmetrica Part B. As director of the Smart Sustainable transportation research center, Chairman of Korean PIARC, and president of KST, he eagerly attends TRB, PIARC, WCTR, and ITS WC.